McGirt squeezes on in FedEx Cup

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Fairmont native William McGirt didn’t hit a single shot during the final round of the PGA Tour’s The Barclays on Sunday, but he was one of the day’s biggest winners.

McGirt, who missed the cut in the first tournament of the FedEx Cup playoffs, was a scoreboard watcher all day, anxious to find out if he would land in the top 100 of the standings to live to play another day.

He did — standing in 99th place at the end of the round.

That means McGirt will advance the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass., for a chance to improve his status to the top 70 in the standings and advance another round in the four-tournament playoff event. The tournament begins on Friday, not the traditional Thursday for a PGA Tour event.

McGirt, who has made the FedEx Cup playoffs his first two seasons on the tour, was in jeopardy of seeing that streak end after shooting rounds of 72-71 and missing the cut by a shot. Having entered the tournament 92nd on the FedEx Cup list, McGirt’s standing went as low as 102nd on Saturday as his fate depended on other players.

But on Sunday, enough players fell backward to allow McGirt to move up to the 99th position.

McGirt is 95th on the tour’s money list with $867,384 in earnings and is assured of full status on the tour during the 2014 season.

Adam Scott won The Barclays, finishing at 11 under par to defeat Gary Woodland and Tiger Woods by a single shot to pocket the $1.44 million first prize and climb to 11th in the FedEx Cup. Woods remains atop the FedEx Cup standings.